1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



223 



you do your fodder by cutting, or your grain by 

 grinding. Is it not so, Mr. Editor ? And what 

 think you of making stock eat a couple of quarts 

 or so of dirt with every bushel of roots ? And 

 will not vegetables, cleaned and cut into strips 

 one-eighth inch thick, cook, if desired, with one- 

 fourth the cost for fuel required for whole ones, 

 besides making much better feed for the cleaning? 

 E , VL, 1861. Bulbous. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 

 WHAT FERTILIZER TO USE. 



I wish to inquire in regard to advertised fertil- 

 izers. I have a piece of land that has been culti- 

 vated two or three years, and is in good condi- 

 tion. Although of rather a clayey soil, yet it is 

 good for corn. Thinking I could use some ad- 

 vertised fertilizers to profit, I wish to inquire 

 which is the best for such kinds of land ? Among 

 the best recommended is Coe's superphospate 

 of lime ; do you know anything of its merits ? 



Northampton, 1861. A Subscriber. 



Remarks. — ^ye cannot tell you what the best 

 "advertised fertilizer" is. Some that have proved 

 quite successful with us, have given little satis- 

 faction to others, so that we dare not commend 

 any one of them in preference to other kinds. So 

 much depends upon soil, manner and time of 

 using, &c., that the results will be widely varia- 

 ble when precisely the same article is used in 

 different localities. You must experiment in a 

 small way for yourself, and gather the opinions of 

 others as they are incidentally given. 



GRAIN FOR SHEEP. 



Will oats hurt sheep to feed to them without 

 being ground ? It is said by our farmers here 

 that they have lost a number by the use of them. 

 What kind of grain is best to give them ? 



IleHuiker, March, 1861. N. M. 



Remarks. — Will some cf our farmers give you, 

 or us, the reasons why unground oats will hurt 

 sheep ? It is a new doctrine to us, and we can- 

 not credit it upon a mere assertion. Fed in 

 proper quantities, we believe them admirably 

 adapted to sheep, and have been informed by 

 some of the most successful sheep growers in 

 Vermont that they ai-e in the constant practice of 

 using them for sheep. Corn and beans are ex- 

 cellent — better ground than unground — but all 

 grain must be fed to sheep judiciously. 



A FINE HOG. 



A. J. Spalding, 2d, has raised a very fine hog 

 this past season, which I think is worthy of no- 

 tice. It had rather ordinary keeping, and yet, at 

 the age of 21 months, it was killed and weighed 

 640 lbs. And what is best in regard to it, the 

 pork is of a very fine quality, suitable for family 

 use. It was sold to Mr. Elliot, a noted provision 

 dealer in Salem, and placed by the side of Mr. 

 Rogers' great hog of South Danvers. I think 

 those that raise large hogs should make correct 

 statements in regard to age, &c, and not say that 



a hog is two years old, when in reality it is near- 

 er four years. P. AV. 

 Danvers, March, 1861. 



TO RELIEVE CHOKED CATTLE. 



Quite a variety of ways have already been 

 pointed out in your jiaper for relieving choked 

 cattle, some of which I doubt not are safe and 

 sure. But as cattle continue to get choked under 

 circumstances which do not always admit of the 

 same remedies, it may be well that the communi- 

 ty should be informed of all the different meth- 

 ods by which the evils may be removed. One 

 method I happened to have knowledge of, which 

 I have not yet seen noticed. If you think proper, 

 please insert it. 



When I was a boy, probably about ten years 

 old, my father had an ox that got choked, I think 

 with a potato ; to save him he must have speedy 

 relief. It was done in this way. He was put in 

 his usual place in the stall ; my father on his left 

 side took him by the horn with his right hand, 

 and with his left grasped his tongue and drew it 

 out by the side of his mouth and held it fast ; an 

 older brother helping on the other side to keep 

 his head steady, I was then told to pull my shirt 

 sleeve up to the shoulder and thrust my hand 

 down his throat, and take out the potato. I said 

 he would bite me. No, my father said, he could 

 not, for his tongue was between his teeth. I then 

 thrust down my arm the whole length — got hold 

 of the potato, and removed it in less than a mo- 

 ment, and all was well. 



an EARLY SPRING. 



A letter just received from Tuskegee, Alabama, 

 dated March 7, says, "We are planting here." 



Another from P^mporia, Kansas, dated March 

 4, says, "We have now every indication of an 

 early spring. Grass is springing up, and every- 

 thing looks hopeful. On the 2d inst. I brought 

 in to Mrs. M. xhe first flower." w. J. 



Monadnoc, No. 4. 



ADVERTISING FARMS FOR SALE. 



Allow me to call the attention of that class of 

 your patrons who are about to advertise "Farms 

 for Sale," to the fact that it will forward their 

 wishes, as well as be of great assistance to appli- 

 cants, to give a description of the place for sale, 

 and, what is very important, the price desired. 



Some places are represented as cheap, others, 

 to inquire of some one sixty or a hundred miles 

 away. It is true, we can correspond to ascertain 

 particulars, but in nine cases out of ten, if the 

 description and the price suited those in want, 

 they would take pains to go in person and view 

 the premises. A friend of mine, last spring, 

 travelled some two hundred miles to see a place 

 advertised as cheap, and ascertained that the 

 price was $4000, when his finances would not 

 permit him to invest over $2500. 



Boston, March, 1861. A Subscriber. 



"A Subscriber's Wife," is informed that we 

 do not know the person for whom she inquires. 

 His article was copied as one of general interest. 

 We suppose good seeds such as she wants may 

 be procured at the seed stores. 



